Pope to visit Middle East as a pilgrim of peace

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Middle East as a pilgrim of peace in the region.

Pope Benedict XVI said on Saturday he was going to the Middle East next week as a pilgrim of peace in a region plagued by violence and injustice,mistrust,uncertainity and fear.

On his first trip to the region where Jesus Christ lived since becoming pope in 2005,he will spend a week visiting Jordan,Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“In just a few days I will have the privilege of visiting the Holy Land,” he told members of the Papal Foundation in Rome on Saturday.

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“I go as a pilgrim of peace.” He added,”for more than 60 years,this region the land of our Lord’s birth,death and resurrection,a sacred place for the world’s three great monotheistic religions — has been plagued by violence and injustice.

“This has led to a general atmosphere of mistrust,uncertainty and fear — often pitting neighbour against neighbour,brother against brother.”

The pope said that as he prepared for this “significant journey” he prayed for “all the peoples of the Holy Land and the region” to “receive the gifts of reconciliation,hope and peace.”

The Vatican’s chief spokesman,Federico Lombardi,said meanwhile that the pope wanted to boost the faltering peace process in the Middle East during his visit.

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